So after just eight months Mr Votolato returned to Cologne for yet another show. Which was perfectly fine with me since I missed most of his last performance in February due to many people I hadn’t seen in a long time and who I wanted to talk to which resulted in me standing in front of the venue most of the time. This time though I was determined to stay for the whole set and I wasn’t disappointed by what I got to see and hear.
The last time he visited Cologne he played at a cinema right in the city center and it seems he liked it that much so this time he chose to play at a former cinema turned club. The “Gloria” is right in the heart of the city and is best known for its gay events, especially during the time of the Christopher Street Day parade in July. Apart from that the venue features comedians and bands and some big acts go there for small club shows (e.g. Coldplay did a show there some time ago). The place itself is, as said before, an old cinema theater without the seats. Which make it very easy to get a good view at the stage because the floor bends downwards towards the stage. So me and a friend chose to hang back near the bar and watch the action from there.
The show wasn’t sold out which only added to the nice experience because I don’t like packed acoustic shows. First up was a German singer/songwriter who accompanied Rocky Votolato throughout the whole tour. His stage name was Senore Matze Rossi and to be honest I wasn’t that thrilled by his performance. The whole concept was way too predictable. It even somewhat looked like as if he used a manual to write his lyrics (which were in German). This was too much of what German pop music sounds like nowadays so me and my friend took the chance to have a little chat while Senore was playing on stage. The audience seemed to like him though and that’s completely fine with me.
One pleasant surprise was the music played inbetween the sets. Jawbreaker always makes me smile.
And when Mr Votolato started his show the magic returned once again. He was very sympathetic and delivered what the crowd wanted to hear. Lots of songs from the “Suicide Medicine” record, some new ones, some old ones, brilliant tracks like “Every Red Cent” or “Automatic Rifle”. It was a pleasure. He returned for a few encores after he had played for about an hour. A nice extra was that brilliant coverversion of Against Me’s “Sink, Florida, Sink” which is great in the original version, but Mr Votolato added his special influence to it. Wonderful stuff.
A very relaxing and pleasant evening. Although I would have preferred seats this time since my back was hurting a little bit from playing football on Tuesday…
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